CHICAGO, Dec. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In the spirit of the holidays, Apartments.com is extending its second annual "Raising Awareness. Taking Action: A Campaign to Help End Homelessness" initiative through the end of 2012. For every new "LIKE" received on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Apartments.com) during the months of November and December, Apartments.com will donate $1 –up to $25,000—to benefit People Serving People of Minneapolis, MN and Vogel Alcove of Dallas, Texas. These organizations have been identified as the beneficiaries of this year's campaign based on the outstanding services they provide to help people affected by homelessness in their individual cities. Apartments.com made a $15,000 donation to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless during their inaugural effort in 2011.

"We decided to extend our initiative through the end of this year to help generate as many 'likes' as possible so we can hopefully reach our goal and make the full donation to both of the worthy organizations this year," states Dick Burke, senior vice president and general manager, Apartments.com. "We help hundreds of thousands of people find new apartment homes each year, and we believe having a roof over your head is a fundamental human need, which is why we created this campaign to do our small part to help alleviate the burden of homelessness."

"Vogel Alcove helps families who are experiencing homelessness – families with young children who have experienced the harsh effects of poverty. We are so happy to partner with Apartments.com in this campaign to help end homelessness," says Karen Hughes, Vogel Alcove president and CEO. "Every 'like' will contribute to making a huge difference to the youngest victims of homelessness in our community."

"The new face of homelessness is that of a five year old child. By supporting People Serving People, you can change a homeless child's life," states Daniel Gumnit, CEO of People Serving People. "Support through the creative efforts of Apartments.com will provide shelter and solutions to help families break the cycle of poverty."

Burke continues, "While we are donating this year to Dallas and Minneapolis-based organizations, we believe engaging people through social media will help increase awareness about the issues facing homeless individuals and families on a national scale. We are honored to be able to continue this effort in two great cities."

The Apartments.com initiative, "Raising Awareness. Taking Action: A Campaign to Help End Homelessness," joins other high-profile efforts—including National Homeless Youth Awareness Month and National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week—during the month of November, to heighten visibility and bring in funds to benefit organizations that advocate for and serve the homeless.

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Apartments.com is making a $1 donation for every new "LIKE" received on their Facebook page on behalf of the people who participate between November 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012, up to a maximum of $25,000, to be divided equally between People Serving People of Minneapolis, MN and Vogel Alcove of Dallas, TX. Participants are not required to make any financial contribution, just simply visit (www.facebook.com/Apartments.com) and click "LIKE"before December 31, 2012 to have $1 donated on their behalf to help end homelessness.

About People Serving People

People Serving People provides emergency shelter to 99 homeless families every night in Hennepin County. Located in Downtown Minneapolis, this 10-story building is essentially a hotel whose primary form of hospitality comes in helping families to overcome homelessness. Families come to the shelter because of landlord foreclosures, job loss, financial crisis, evictions, overwhelming medical expenses, etc – and they leave with stronger community connections, dedicated advocates, employment, stable housing, and a chance at a better future. The heart and soul of People Serving People's work is the time spent on strengthening the futures of the 200+ children at the shelter every day – through early childhood education, healthy meals, volunteer readers and tutors, healthcare, family activities, school transportation, and stabilization of family life. Everyone deserves to have a place to call home – and People Serving People depends on the community's support to help families find their way home. Visit them on the web www.peopleservingpeople.org for more information.

About Vogel Alcove

Vogel Alcove is a free therapeutic early childhood education center serving Dallas' youngest victims of poverty: homeless children ages six weeks to five years old. Vogel Alcove offers homeless parents a safe and nurturing place to leave their young children while they work to rebuild their lives. With a capacity of 115 children daily, Vogel Alcove serves homeless children living in one of 22 affiliate programs which include homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, transitional housing programs, and community resources for homeless families. The Alcove's services include early childhood education using developmentally-appropriate, research-based curriculum and assessment tools; screenings to check for developmental delays and/or disorders, and intervention if necessary (including speech, occupational, and physical therapy); nutritious home cooked meals using a USDA-certified menu; clinical case management for families; an early childhood mental health specialist to address the mental, social and emotional needs of the children; access to medical and dental care; and an on-site Community Resource Center to provide families with everything they may need to assist in their recovery from homelessness and family violence. For more information visit www.vogelalcove.org.

About Apartments.com

Apartments.com (http://www.apartments.com) is a leading national apartment Internet listing subscription service with more than 50,000 unique addresses representing millions of rental units from managed properties, newspaper classifieds and for-rent-by-owner properties. By incorporating the most relevant products to reach renters, including personalized searches and highly-visual ads featuring live chat, real-time rent, online video walk-through demonstrations, professional photography, a mobile website and iPhone and Android apps, Apartments.com creates easy access to its listings. Providing unmatched exposure to its advertisers through an intuitive name, strategic search engine placements and featured partnerships and more than 120 newspaper websites and innovative emerging media, Apartments.com reaches millions of renters nationwide, driving both qualified traffic and highly-engaged renters to leasing offices across the country. Apartments.com is a division of Chicago-based Classified Ventures, LLC. The Apartments.com network of apartment rental websites includes Apartment Home Living (http://www.apartmenthomeliving.com), a leading social media apartment website distinguished by a "live for fun" community experience, proprietary lifestyle matching and local living guides to help renters find their perfect place to live; Rental Homes Plus (http://www.rentalhomesplus.com),an online destination where house hunters who prefer to rent can choose from a robust inventory of houses, condos, town houses, duplexes and apartments from around the country; and Rentfish (http://www.rentfish.com), a nationalapartment websiteoffering customizable searches by neighborhood, favorite coffee spot, sports arena, famous landmark and more.

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